I Just Haven't Met You Yet
by McBreezy
Summary: After the detonation of the Jughead, James, Juliet, and the others are sent lurching through time, but when are they now, and more importantly, can they remember where they've been?
1. Chapter 1

**[Setting: just after the detonation of the Jughead. Where (and when) are they now, and more importantly, can they remember where they've been?]**

Chapter 1: Begin Again

When James regained consciousness, he was laying in a hospital bed. Where, he had no idea. _When _was a mystery, as well. Had the Hostiles taken him prisoner? Was he still in Dharmaville? _Juliet!_ Where was his Blondie?? It all came flooding back to him. She'd fallen…he'd begged her to hang on, but she let go, and then…

James felt tears slide down his cheeks at the painful memory. He couldn't bring himself to believe he'd never see her again. He didn't know what had happened, but she had to be out there somewhere. If he'd survived the blast, maybe she'd survived, too. He had to hope. He had to hold on now, for both of them.

* * *

Thirty minutes passed, and the door to his room opened. James jumped in surprise, suddenly feeling the soreness in his ribcage. He groaned and scanned the room for a weapon, in case it was one of the Hostiles at his door, but found nothing. Fortunately, he didn't need to worry.

"Well hello there, good to see you awake." the nurse said with a smile.

James' face twisted in confusion. She wasn't an Other, and he didn't recognize her from Dharmaville. "Wh-where am I?" he asked, catching himself before he asked _when_.

"Pacific Alliance Medical Center," the nurse replied, "Do you remember what happened at the airport?"

"Airport? What…" he trailed off in confusion.

The nurse sensed it, filling in the blanks for him. "You got in a fight after you got off of your plane. Apparently a couple of really big guys grabbed you, the police have them now. You were beaten up pretty badly, but you'll be just fine. You have a mild concussion and a fractured rib, but with a little rest, you'll be good as new." she explained with a kind smile.

"Now hold on a minute…I'm in L.A.?" James asked, his head spinning. How did he get here? He couldn't be here, not unless… _It worked! _he thought triumphantly to himself, suddenly beaming for no apparent reason.

"Are you alright?" the nurse asked, curious as to why he seemed so gosh darn happy to be in the hospital.

"Yeah, I am," James replied, chuckling to himself, "I'll be damned…" His Juliet was out there, he just knew it. "By the way, miss, what's the date again?"

"September 22, 2004." she replied.

"HOO-WEE! That crazy son of a bitch was right!" he exclaimed with a laugh, prompting the nurse to urge him to calm down. "When can I get outta here??" he asked anxiously.

"Well, we'd like to monitor you overnight, just in case--"

"Overnight? No way, sweetheart, I got places to go and people to find…any way I can get outta here now?"

The nurse chuckled, "Be patient, Mr. Ford, it'll be at least an hour before I can get your discharge papers, and if you insist on leaving, I'm gonna have to have you sign a DAMA."

"I'll sign whatever needs signin', but I gotta get outta here. See, the woman I love is out there somewhere and I gotta find her now, there ain't no two ways about it. So if you could get those papers…soon as you can, please." he explained to her, a smile on his face at the thought of finding his Juliet again.

"Aww! That's just about the sweetest thing I've ever heard." she said. Obviously, James had appealed to her inner romantic. "I'll see what I can do about those papers, you just sit tight."

"Thanks, doll. 'Preciate it." he said, laying back on the bed and imagining what it would be like to be reunited with his true love again. They were rescued, they could really be together now, in the _real world_…nothing would stand in their way again. No more Others, no more getting shot at, no more Jim LaFleur or Sawyer or lies or cons…just James and Juliet. Unfortunately, things aren't always as simple as we imagine them to be.

* * *

An hour later, James was back at the airport, buying a ticket to Miami. He knew that if he wanted to find Juliet, the best place to start his search was with her sister. He showed up on Rachel's doorstep the next morning, and was greeted by the pitter-patter of a toddler's feet. Rachel opened the door a moment later, a young boy in her arms.

"Oh…hello, can I help you?" Rachel asked James, scanning his face to try and remember if she knew him. He didn't look familiar.

"I sure as hell hope so…" James began with a soft chuckle. "Is Juliet here?"

Rachel's eyebrow lifted, then furrowed, her expression becoming a bit darker, "No, she's not. Who are you?"

"I'm the man who wants to marry your sister."

* * *

"So let me see if I have this straight: you met Juliet on that island they took her to three years ago, but she was part of this group called 'The Others' and she tasered you and had you locked in a bear cage. Then, she helped you escape, and later joined _your _people on the beach, and you went through a bunch of stuff that I won't even _attempt _to repeat or understand, including flashes through time itself, and it all culminated with my sister falling down a hole with a hydrogen bomb, which exploded and sent you back here before it all started."

"Basically, yeah." James said, as if it were as simple and commonplace an explanation as that. He'd told Rachel the entire story, beginning to end (omitting the parts about Kate, just as a matter of taste), and she seemed to believe him…not that she had any idea how to understand it.

"Wow." was all his true love's sister could manage to say. "I, um…I'm not sure how to take this in. I mean, I haven't seen or spoken to my sister in three years. I'd basically accepted the fact that she was dead, and then you come here, _exactly _three years after she left, and you tell me she was being _kept _there by this Ben guy? I really hope you're not screwing with me, James. Because I _will _kill you." Rachel said with the same confidence in her voice that Juliet always had.

"I'm not screwin' with ya, Rachel. I've loved your sister for three years, and I have to find her. If she's still on the island, then I'm gonna find a way to get there and I'm gonna bring her back with me. Or die tryin'." he assured Rachel seriously.

"Well, James, for your sake more than mine, I hope she's still alive…and I hope to hell that you can actually find her."

"Oh I'll find her, alright. I ain't about to give up on the love of my life, Rachel. I bought her a ring. I was gonna pop the question, but…well, my plans kinda got interrupted."

"Well find her, then, James. If you can bring my sister back to me, I just might give you my blessing to marry her." Rachel smiled softly, her eyes welling with tears at the idea she might really see her son's namesake again.

James chuckled, "Ya just might, huh? Well in that case, consider it done."

* * *

"Mmmff." Juliet groaned and rolled over in bed as the light poured in the windows.

"Hey…wake up, sleepyhead." Goodwin said with a chuckle, sitting down on the bed and running his fingers through her hair.

Juliet turned again, her eyes heavy. She felt like she'd just been through World War III for some reason, but she couldn't figure out why. "What…time is it?" she asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes and sitting up.

"Almost noon. You've been out like a light for over 12 hours." he said, placing gentle kisses on her neck.

"Mm. I don't know why I'm so tired. What happened last night?" she asked with a yawn.

"Nothing unusual, though you may have had just a little more wine than usual." he said, smiling and kissing her. Why did his kisses feel so…different? She remembered the last set of lips that touched hers, and they didn't taste or feel that way. She pushed the thought aside and smiled.

"You should get back home." she suggested kindly.

"I was just there, everything's fine." he replied, smiling. "What do you wanna do today?"

Juliet paused a moment in thought. "I have the strangest urge to go to the beach. What do you think?"


	2. Chapter 2

Juliet smiled as she laid there with Goodwin, her head resting on his back, wine glass in hand.

"I wish we could do this all the time," he mused, "I hate that we have to be so…private." If he could have spent every moment with Juliet, he would have. He wished they could just get on the sub and go away from the island, be together without worries of his wife, but Juliet wouldn't have it.

"What's the matter with being private?" she asked a moment later, as he'd known she would.

He sighed, "It's ridiculous, I've been sleeping on the couch for a _year_. Why am I not just telling her?" The thought had crossed his mind many times, but this was the first time he said it out loud. He knew she'd object to the idea. Juliet and Harper didn't get along very well as it was; throw in the fact that Juliet had been sleeping with her husband, and Harper was liable to become dangerous.

"I don't think it's a good idea." Juliet answered simply. Not only did she have his wife to contend with, but she also knew the woman had no qualms about going to Ben. She sat up, and Goodwin followed suit, a worried expression on his face.

"Why not?"

She paused for an instant before replying, deciding not to mention that Harper _already_ knew. "Ben wouldn't like it."

"That's what this is about, you're worried about _Ben?" _

Juliet looked at him knowingly, as if to say, 'Shouldn't I be?'

"Why, because he has a crush on you?"

His question caught Juliet off-guard. She didn't realize Goodwin had any knowledge of Ben's feelings towards her. Hell, _she_ hadn't even thought about it until Harper mentioned it. "You know?"

"Come on, everyone knows, he follows you around like a puppy!" Goodwin exclaimed with a soft chuckle. Why wouldn't Ben have a crush on her? It surprised him that she didn't think it was obvious, that she didn't realize how beautiful she was. Ben wasn't the only one on the island who was crushing on the gorgeous, blonde doctor, he was just the most dangerous.

Juliet half-smiled for a moment. "And you don't think that's a problem?"

He sighed, "Now, a little less than a kilometer from here, he has me working with chemicals. They could kill every man, woman, and child on this island if I flip the wrong switch," he explained, "Trust me, Ben has enough on his plate. The last thing he cares about is you and me."

"I just…get the feeling that he would be upset." Juliet replied, feeling uneasy.

"What's _Ben_ gonna do?"

"That's a wonderful question, Goodwin." came the chilling reply from behind them.

Juliet froze as she looked into the eyes of the very man they'd just been talking about. "B-Ben…" she stammered, her throat suddenly going dry. She stood up, not daring to look at Goodwin.

"Yes, Juliet, it's Ben. Glad to know you still remember my name, what with you moaning Goodwin's all the time, and all. I had hoped Harper was just being paranoid when she told me that the two of you were seeing one another, but it seems she was right, after all. That makes me very sad, Juliet. I thought after all this time, you understood where your loyalty should lie."

"My _loyalty?"_ Juliet asked, a hint of anger in her voice, "Ben, I have been nothing but loyal to you for three years! Which, if you remember, is two and a half more than you originally told me. If you had some kind of feelings for me, you should have said something about it! It's not my fault you were too afraid to." She was the only one who could ever get away with talking to him like that, though it still angered him. Goodwin looked on, shocked she'd had the nerve to say such things to him. He knew she was a strong woman, but not quite _that_ brave.

"You're right, Juliet. It's not your fault. But it _is_ your fault that you decided to take up with a married man, instead. Which is why I'm going to have to punish you." Ben said calmly.

"Punish me?" she repeated apprehensively, her heart rate picking up.

"Hey now, Ben, come on, there's no need to get dramatic, here. We're all adults, we can work this out, and really, whatever's going on is between me, Juliet, and Harper, it doesn't concern you." Goodwin jumped in.

Ben chuckled softly, "That's where you're wrong, Goodwin. The welfare of everyone on this island is in my hands, and when something threatens to jeopardize that…I have to eliminate the threat, Goodwin. I'm sure you understand."

The shot came an instant later. Juliet gasped in horror when she saw the blood pouring from Goodwin's chest as he fell to the ground. "NO!!!" she screamed, tears filling her eyes. She knelt beside him, desperately trying to find a pulse, but there was none. "What have you done?!?" she screamed at Ben, looking at him through watery eyes.

"I haven't done anything, Juliet. I don't have a gun." Ben said coolly. Rage boiled inside of her as Danny Pickett stepped out from behind the trees, grinning wickedly, a gun in his hand.

"You're a monster!" she said angrily, standing up again, her entire body shaking with anger and grief.

"_I'm_ not the monster, here, Juliet." Ben said, as if accusing her and _ex_cusing himself. "Go home, Danny, your job here is done." he told Pickett, who turned to leave, a sickeningly amused grin still on his face.

"What, you're saying this is _my_ fault?! What's the _matter_ with you, Ben, how could you just have him killed in cold blood?!" she shouted, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Why would you do that to him? To _me?_ If you really had feelings for me, if you really cared about me at all, you'd have let us be! You'd have let me go home when I wanted to! You don't care about me, not really. You only care about keeping me. You want to _possess_ me. Well, I'm not yours! Do you hear me??" she demanded, stepping closer to him with every sentence she spoke. "I'm not yours! You can keep me here as long as you want, you can continue to punish me for the rest of my life, but I will _never_ belong to you."

Her gaze was ice cold, and Ben felt it. Something inside of him seemed to break with her words. She really thought he didn't care? Maybe she was right about the way he'd treated her, but it was only because he loved her, and she'd crushed him over and over again. He'd always treated her better than he did anyone else…hadn't he? "Juliet, you don't honestly believe that, do you? My feelings towards you have _always_ been clear, I _love_ you. And you broke my heart."

He said it, but she felt nothing. Nothing, perhaps, but pity. And anger. "If you love me, then prove it. Let me go home, Ben." she said, moving ever closer to him. "Please. I need to go home. Let me go, Ben. Let me go now, and I'll leave with the fond memories I still have of you. Keep me here, and all I'll have for you is hatred." She spoke softly, closing in on him until they were only inches apart. "What'll it be, Ben?"

He paused, staring at her for a good long while. She thought perhaps that he'd never answer, until finally, he spoke. "You can go home, Juliet." he replied softly. She couldn't be sure, but she thought she heard his voice break slightly.

"What's the catch?" she asked suspiciously.

"There isn't one. Not this time. I'd rather have you thousands of miles away still caring for me than to have you here hating me, though you have every right to do so. I'm sorry, Juliet. I let my jealousy get the better of me today, and I shouldn't have done that." He seemed sincere enough. She decided to accept it. It was the best she'd ever get out of him, she couldn't push it, and it seemed he was finally letting her go home. She couldn't jeopardize that opportunity.

"Thank you, Ben." she said softly, tears still escaping from her eyes. As a means of sealing the deal, so to speak, she leaned in to him, placing a gentle kiss on his lips. It hurt her heart to do so after just losing Goodwin, but Ben had been good to her (or as good as Ben could be to someone), up until now.

He looked at her in surprise. "I do love you, Juliet, the best I know how. Please remember that about me, even if you choose to forget everything else. Go now and pack, the sub leaves in the morning."

"But Goodwin, he--"

"I'll take care of him." he assured her, somehow not quite so reassuringly, but she couldn't take any more chances. She'd come to terms with her grief once she got off the damn island.

Juliet nodded, taking one last look at the body of her lover. "Please do." She looked back at Ben and paused a moment. "Goodbye, Ben." she finally said.

"Goodbye, Juliet." And she was gone.


End file.
